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The first Morgantown Birding Cup was held May 15-16, with teams spotting hawks, American robins, Baltimore orioles and many other species.
The event was sponsored by the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, Mountaineer Audubon, and the West Virginia Young Birders Club, and included the five counties in Mountaineer Audubon’s region: Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston and Taylor.
The winning team was Hannah Clipp and Derek Courtney, who spotted 89 species. They birded in Morgantown. Notable species included black-billed cuckoos and fledgling barred owls in the WVU Core Arboretum.
Mollee Brown was a close second, with 84 species. She birded near the Marion/Taylor county border. Notable species included mourning a warbler and bobolinks.
In third place was the team of LeJay and Helen Ann Graffious and Amy Hill. They tallied 65 species, including many hooded warblers, at Old Hemlock in Preston County.
Organizers originally envisioned teams traveling around the region looking for birds, but because of the coronavirus, the event was revised. Teams could only count birds within walking distance of where they live, and instead of a closing “count party,” there was a Zoom meeting, with results being announced.
This was a free, friendly competition.
Seventy-three teams registered for the cup, and 64 submitted bird lists. Many young birders participated on teams, ranging from infants to high school students.
Many warbler species migrated through the area during the cup, including Tennessee, Cape May, magnolia, bay-breasted, Blackburnian and others.
Teams spotted young birds in their nests, including black vulture, red-shouldered hawk and American robin.
Also, many teams saw Baltimore orioles, or noted on their lists that they’d seen Baltimore orioles earlier in the week. Several teams saw scarlet tanagers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and indigo buntings in their backyards.
The most commonly reported species across the lists included mourning dove, blue jay, chickadee sp., tufted titmouse, European starling, American robin and Northern cardinal.
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